From Bittersweet romance to… a British local. Witchy women and a surprise for a woman who figured her adopted family wanted nothing to do with her. Witch is When it All Began by Adele Abbott is the first in the series A Witch P.I.

This mystery series is actually way more extensive than I realized when I came across this as a free download. I do believe there are 13 at current count of these. The estimated read time for it (typical whatever) was a little over 4 hours so I think it is classified as a novel. It is cute, humorous, not much on the romance really… yet… but the main character – Jill Gooder is an interesting individual surrounded by people who are worth reading more about.

Jill has taken over her father’s P.I. office after his death and employs (I use that term loosely as with a downturn in their clients post change over Mrs. V works for free knitting like crazy and fighting with the office cat – a one- eyed specimen named Winky) a single receptionist. She is determined to continue the family legacy and solve any mystery thrown her way. Apparently including that of her own past.

Jill is adopted and very happy with her sister. It is not until her birth mother sends out a message requesting her presence at her death bed that things get… well… witchy.

A legacy she has yet to fully learn about, a family to acquaint herself with as well as mundane murders and problems to solve. The mystery in this story was interesting with a bit of a surprise solution. The main character has a healthy sense of humour and a stubborn streak a mile long. There is only a dash of a potential romance and a good strong mystery going on that is intriguing. The magic and the mundane characters are all quite interesting. So if you like magic, mystery all wrapped in a very British package this could be a series for you! 

From a fantastic young adult novel to a light Christian based romance. Her Holiday Family by Ruth Logan Herne is a story to enjoy on a quiet afternoon. Dealing with family rifts is never simple, especially when it comes out of nowhere and blinds you. When forgiveness is slow to come and life an uphill battle love is rarely at the front of one’s mind. Neither is reconnecting with someone tied to a difficult time long past.

There are many elements in this story… a broken family, sudden death, arson, foster children and adoption, cancer… Both of the main characters are coming from a place of pain and heart ache. One has lost both her parents and her hard earned business, the other faces losing his father and the reality of his culpability (or lack there was) to an incident that has haunted him since his youth.

There is a definite mystery, a strong romantic element and, of course, a lovely dose of Christmas spirit. Based in Kirkwood Lake (and fifth in the Kirkland Lake series), Tina Martinelli and Max Campbell have a history unresolved and a future unplanned. Tina is in Kirkwood Lake only as long as it takes for her to sort out her burnt out cafe and help out the Campbell family while the patriarch deals with a severe return of his cancer. Max is back from his time in the army to do the same. The big question is who will stay and will they find peace, faith and love?

I really enjoyed this novel. Though I found some of the emotional strife a little bit self imposed on the characters (as indeed it turns out some of it is!). A nice seasonal read if you are looking for some Christmas cheer!

And… back to the Love Inspired romances from the library. The Bachelor Next Door by Kathryn Springer has two very different souls battling much the same problem – an over commitment to work and success while forsaking love, faith and fun. The difference is that we come to these characters with one (Lily) well on her way to realizing her faith and priorities in a healthy manner and the other (Brendan) struggling to find any sort of balance outside of guilt and work.

Lily is helping out her friend Shelby who has contracted lymes disease and cannot take on a job at the family home of Brendan painting a number of the rooms. All of this was set up by Branden’s adopted (once foster) mother Sunni who then leaves for a cruise. This leaves the two of them in the same house during the day (offices for Branden) where interactions are unavoidable and romance and faith blossom.

This book is different from the “usual” Heartwarming Inspirational Romances in so much as there not being a child directly involved in the main interactions. Though I have noticed that the idea of foster parents or one of the main characters being adopted is quite common. In this case the 3 men Lily comes most in contact with (3 extremely handsome brothers) are all adopted and Lily herself was without a mother at a fairly young age. 

This book was a lot more faith first than some of the others, a lot of the activities they end up doing go back to the church, the main focus of the company Brandon is trying to save is a Christian message. Definitely a lovely story with lots of character growth and a nice ending that is basically wrapped up in a bow for you.